Zoltán Balázs: The Moral Constitution of Capitalism
Címkék:
2009-04-10 - Kata Péter
In the good and hopeless old days of real socialism, political jokes made up the single solid ideology of society. One of these jokes asked: where does capitalism stand? Answer: at the edge of an abyss. Next question: and where is socialism? Answer: before capitalism!
Scepticism, and indeed, cynicism is often an effective and useful strategy to protect one?s identity which is threatened by lies, by spiritual and mental coercion. To fend off the corruption of real socialism, hopeless scepticism was a successful tool. But using it extensively makes one vulnerable to a different type of corruption. By secretly unmasking the pretenses of official socialist values, such as solidarity, equality, and progress, which were honorable members of the humanist pantheon, many people have come to believe that no society can be enduringly founded on values. Remember: though the joke I cited implies that socialism is a wreck in the abyss, but capitalism does not have a much brighter future, either.
My view is the opposite. No society can be a master of its own future which does not recognize, cultivate, and collectively pursue certain moral (and nonmoral) values. In fact, being conscious of these values and ideals is one of the existential preconditions of a political society. In other words, the political mode of existence of any society consists of its being conscious of values shared and pursued by most of its citizens. Without such an awareness there can hardly be any meaningful discussion about the public good. This is, in my view, the Aristotelian way of thinking about politics. Aristotle is famous for his insistence on the intimate link between the goodness of the social order, or the constitution, and the goodness of the lives of its citizens. Here I suggest, first, that capitalism can be viewed as a constitution in the Aristotelian sense, that is, a social order based on moral values, which effectively links up the individual and the collective pursuit of these values. And secondly, I wish to argue that Catholicism, which I do not take to be a political constitution, but rather, a specific conception of man and the human condition in general, is by no means antithetical to capitalism.
Scepticism, and indeed, cynicism is often an effective and useful strategy to protect one?s identity which is threatened by lies, by spiritual and mental coercion. To fend off the corruption of real socialism, hopeless scepticism was a successful tool. But using it extensively makes one vulnerable to a different type of corruption. By secretly unmasking the pretenses of official socialist values, such as solidarity, equality, and progress, which were honorable members of the humanist pantheon, many people have come to believe that no society can be enduringly founded on values. Remember: though the joke I cited implies that socialism is a wreck in the abyss, but capitalism does not have a much brighter future, either.
My view is the opposite. No society can be a master of its own future which does not recognize, cultivate, and collectively pursue certain moral (and nonmoral) values. In fact, being conscious of these values and ideals is one of the existential preconditions of a political society. In other words, the political mode of existence of any society consists of its being conscious of values shared and pursued by most of its citizens. Without such an awareness there can hardly be any meaningful discussion about the public good. This is, in my view, the Aristotelian way of thinking about politics. Aristotle is famous for his insistence on the intimate link between the goodness of the social order, or the constitution, and the goodness of the lives of its citizens. Here I suggest, first, that capitalism can be viewed as a constitution in the Aristotelian sense, that is, a social order based on moral values, which effectively links up the individual and the collective pursuit of these values. And secondly, I wish to argue that Catholicism, which I do not take to be a political constitution, but rather, a specific conception of man and the human condition in general, is by no means antithetical to capitalism.
| Csatolmány | Méret |
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| ActonEnglish.doc | 38.5 KB |
| ActonMagyar.doc | 60 KB |
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